Guardians Of The Galaxy Concept Art Shows Off A Terrifying Vision Of Rocket And Groot

While there are a handful of naughty words and maybe a few off-color jokes, James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy really is a film for all audiences. Kids may feel like they're getting away with something watching it, but really the film is pretty much on level with Star Wars in terms of being great sci-fi entertainment for most audiences. This is partially reflected in the fact that the movie's CGI characters, Groot and Rocket, look rather cute and cuddly - and not like the demonic creatures you see in the artwork below:

What you see here is the latest piece of Guardians of the Galaxyconcept art released by artist Andy Park, via Twitter, who has been posting images ever since the film landed in theaters last month. While most of the work has been described with adjectives such as "awesome," "cool" and "sexy," the word I would choose to describe what's above is "terrifying." While he certainly looks like he's still made out of natural parts, there is something downright scary about the look in his eyes. Also, this is the first version of Rocket where I've been more scared of his bite than his gun (though that may have more to do with his expression).

Surely there were hundreds of designs for Rocket and Groot created by many different artists in the pre-production phase of Guardians of the Galaxy, and we have only been seeing a fraction of it. Still, it's strange to look at the designs at think about what the movie would have looked like if James Gunn had decided to go in different directions with his talking tree and gun-toting raccoon. Would we still have loved Rocket and Groot if they had looked more like what we saw in the concept art released during San Diego Comic-Con 2012?

How about the look they have in this Boot of Exitar design?

It's fun to think about "What If?" but if you go by the numbers then it is clear that Marvel Studios made all of the right moves with Guardians of the Galaxy. The film has outperformed every other theatrical release that has come out in the United States this year - Captain America: The Winter Soldier included - and it could very well end up changing the world of comic book movies forever. If you haven't already done so, go check it out in theaters while you still can.